The million-dollar question inside the Dallas Mavericks facility is who will take over as head coach in the 2026-27 season. It's arguably the hottest job on the market, and we're starting to narrow down the search with the NBA Draft close by.
Since the position opened, Duke's Jon Scheyer has been buzzing in Dallas, which would be perfect for Cooper Flagg to reunite with his college coach. But also, the Duke head coaching job is a legacy, and Scheyer has everything set on his plate with five-star recruits left and right.
Michigan's Dusty May has also been named as a potential candidate, but he's coming off a national championship, and it feels like he's in the right place at the right time. That's why ESPN's Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst crossed out the college coaches and named the best candidate as a "rising assistant" in the NBA.
"In the wake of Dallas moving on from Jason Kidd, there have been rumblings of both Duke's Jon Scheyer and Michigan's Dusty May being linked to the vacancy. But ever since Masai Ujiri was hired to run basketball operations last month, the belief around the league is that the most likely outcome for Dallas is elevating one of the NBA's rising assistants."
It's looking like the next Mavs head coach will be a current assistant NBA coach
This spoke perfectly to former Mavs assistant and current Spurs associate head coach Sean Sweeney, who has taken the Orlando Magic job, leaving Dallas in the dust. We wish Sweeney well, but he was the dream coaching pick thanks to his history with Dallas and his recent resume of defensive wizardry to build up Victor Wembanyama to Defensive Player of the Year.
It was the perfect plan, but the Magic are in a similar situation, too. They have young studs like Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, and it was time for them to change things up on their end to get the right guy.
It sure sounds like the Mavs could be looking in the direction of Minnesota Timberwolves assistant coach Micah Nori, who has coached in the place of Chris Finch before, after Finch got injured during the 2024 playoffs.
Nori has been a hot assistant candidate for a while, and it may be the best answer at this point. If not, Tiago Splitter is someone who's waiting in the corner to be picked, as his time with the Portland Trail Blazers is in deep jeopardy with new ownership taking over.
One dark horse we've yet to mention is Boston Celtics assistant Sam Cassell, who has experience as a champion, as a player and an assistant coach in 2024. He could be the perfect player-coach that the Mavericks need.
The draft and coaching search is one of the most crucial in Mavericks history, given the nature of the 19-year-old Flagg about to take the NBA by storm. It's a heck of a position for Ujiri to be in, but it's safe to say now we know which direction he's going in.
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